Conventional air-to-surface weapon delivery relies upon pre-planned flight conditions with a pre-determined weapon release point at an offset from the known and pre-defined target position. This is unnecessarily restrictive on the aircraft's freedom to alter its flight path in the light of changed circumstances. However, with the increases in computer power possible as processor technology has advanced, the need to comply with pre-planned flight conditions and approach paths has diminished; computers can now determine dynamic current flight conditions and utilize this information to continuously update the weapon release position. This ensures that the weapon is delivered on target, based on the computer's knowledge of the ballistic/airflow characteristics of the weapon.
With the development of precision and GPS-guided weaponry, the flexibility regarding where and when a weapon can be released has greatly increased. Aircraft carry more and a greater variety of different weapons, and the battlefield is becoming increasingly dynamic and volatile in nature and this increases the workload on the pilot, who needs to be able to assimilate all the various elements of targeting information and to take decisions not only on whether or not to engage a particular target but also as to the effects of the weapon's ability successfully to engage a given target in the light of past and future changes in flight path. There is a definite need for complex target engageability data to be displayed clearly to the pilot, in such a way as to be readily accessible and interpretable.